Ever Mine Ever Thine Ever Ours
by Little-Angry-Kitten
Summary: I was almost in the same situation as she had been. I had to live without the man that holds my heart. The only difference between our two situations was that she had it easy. Juliet never had to drive a stake through Romeo's heart. She never had to kill him. AU Moroi!Rose / Dhampir!Dimitri.
1. Prologue

**A/N: This story was my piece for Fandom 4 Children. I am really proud of it, as it's the longest thing I have write and the one I love the most from all my stories. I want to thank Mandy 52799 for the amazing banner she made, Nicia for betaing all 20,000 words and CrazySue05 for double checking it was errors free. The prologue is a little small so there will be two updates today. I own nothing but the plot of this story. All the characters belong to the amazing Richelle Mead. I am simply having fun playing around with them.**

**This story is dedicated to my amazing friend Nicia. For helping me with it when I got stuck, or cheering me up when I thought I would never get it done and finally for showing such faith to me. Without you I would have never finish this. ~Maria**

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_**~Prologue~**_

**"In fairy tales you meet Prince Charming and he's everything you ever wanted. In fairy tales the bad guy is very easy to spot. The bad guy is always wearing a black cape so you always know who he is. Then you grow up and you realize that Prince Charming is not as easy to find as you thought. You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he's not easy to spot; he's really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair."**

**-Taylor Swift**

_And they lived happily ever after..._

That's how all the fairytales my mom used to read me when I was a child ended. With the Princess finding her Prince and the bad guys being punished for what they did wrong.

For many years I believed I would get my happy ending too. I would find my Prince Charming, he would sweep me off my feet and we would live happily ever after with no worries.

Now two years after my whole life was shattered before my eyes I wish I never believed in fairytales. I wish I never believed in Prince Charming, white horses, beautiful dresses that my fairy godmother would make from rags or carriages made from pumpkins. I wish my mother had told me that true love never comes easily. That life never runs smoothly and that happy endings don't really exist.

I wish I never thought that I was entitled to live that happily ever after.

I wish someone had prepared me for the pain I would feel when I lost him.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: To give you a heads up, this is not the classic happily ever after fairytale story. On with some needed details, the story is set in an Alternative Universe where Rose is a Moroi and the plot-line has nothing to do with the original books. ****So basically the story is a mix of RM's world with my twists and turns. On** the bright side it has lemons in it! 

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_**~Chapter One~**_

The conference room was chaos. Everyone wanted to say something and everyone wanted to be heard. For the past three days they believed they had the right to decide what's best for me. Like I'm a ten-year-old that knows nothing about life.

From the moment the note was somehow placed in my room everyone went crazy. My parents demanded for me to take more guards and my friends swore to protect me with their own lives. They made me feel like I was helpless, and if there's one thing Rose Hathaway is, it's not helpless. I was taught how to survive by the best, and to never give up. I am a Moroi and yet, I can fight better than most Dhampirs.

My family is not a royal line like my best friend Lissa's is, but let's just say that my father is quite powerful among our people. He has his ways of getting what he wants, they're not always legal, but that's not the point.

My father always thought that it would be better for me to learn how to defend myself than to just stand back and leave my life in the hands of someone else like all the other Moroi did. Not that he doesn't trust Dhampirs, but it's better to fight alongside them than to just stand on the sidelines. Of course not everyone believes that.

So when I was old enough to learn how to fight my father demanded the best teacher at St. Vladimir's Academy to teach me. I have to confess I was a troublemaker back then. Being the spoiled daddy's princess I was, I thought I owned the whole school. I had an attitude and was a rebel always getting myself in situations I shouldn't. All in all, I was clearly my father's daughter.

Somehow, I managed to fall in love with my teacher and he fell in love with me too. That's how Dimitri truly entered my life and changed everything. Or did I change everything in his life? I'm still not sure, even after all these years. He used to tell me that I was like a hurricane; always wild and unpredictable. He liked to remind me everyday that was the reason he fell in love with me.

It was hate at first sight! Lissa and Adrian used to joke about it; they used to tease me about how our auras matched. Both of them were spirit users and had quite a talent at reading auras. Lissa once explained to me that when she looked at us (together) she could see splashes of red, black and gold mixed with white. Red meant love and passion where black mend power. The gold and white simple mend that our feelings were pure and honest, not just lust. The way our auras completed each other's always fascinated her. They were like two missing pieces of a puzzle. Her words not mine. They both could see what we felt in Dimitri's aura and mine. He loved me and I loved him.

It took me a while to admit that I actually felt something; and Dimitri was no better. He fought against his feelings as much as I did. He was seven years older than me and the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes on. He was tall with tan skin, brown hair that touched his shoulders and the most beautiful chocolate brown eyes I've ever seen. He had this stupid, sexy Russian accent that made my panties wet and he took full advantage of that knowledge. I could deny the feelings I had for him but not the attraction.

He was one of the best guardians in our school and from what my best friend Mason – another Dhampir - told me he was the best fighter among all Dhampirs. He was something like a god in Mason's eyes. I had flipped him off; little did I know that Dimitri was my Prince Charming. That he was the man that would put me in my place and I would love every minute of it. But despite that, there is a little part of me that wishes I'd denied what my father had asked.

Dimitri taught me how to fight. I taught him that everything is not what it seems, and we taught each other how to love. Our relationship wasn't easy by any means, we overcame many things. My father's disapproval was my main concern; I couldn't care less what all the others thought about me. It's not like I had a reputation to uphold.

In the end, after a lot of fights, tears from me, a long speech from Dimitri and a little help from my mom, my father gave up. Like he was any better; he and mom eloped when she was eighteen. Grandfather Hathaway had a heart attack when they told him his only daughter eloped with a poor Moroi. Mom's family came from money, they weren't royals but they were rich. Grandfather planned to marry her with Nathan Ivashkov – Adrian's father - but my parents had other plans. They ran away and got married. A few months later I came along and the day my mom announced the news my father swore to provide us with the best. Thus he built an empire, again not always with legal ways. Grandfather still bitches about it during our family dinners.

Back to Dimitri and I; we went through hell and back because we were together. Moroi/Dhampir relationships were frowned upon in our society. Yes, affairs between the two species were something common; but relationships with a prospect of marriage like ours were unheard of. But with a little support from the Dragomir and the Dashkov royal families, everyone suddenly preferred to keep their mouths shut and their opinions to their selves. I looked again to the note in front of me.

_You are mine. It was stupid of you to think that you could escape me so easily Roza. ~D._

A shiver ran down my spine as I re-read the note for the millionth time. I still can't believe how I ended up in this position. My life was perfect, I had found my one and only and I was ready to get married. And just a few weeks before the day I would promise myself to him, everything fell apart.

"Rose can take care of herself, Ibrahim. Don't treat her like she is a child!" Uncle Victor's voice broke me out of my daydream. My father was seated at the head of the table with my mom beside him. Uncle Victor was seated beside mom with Uncle Eric, Lissa's dad. I had tuned everyone out because honestly after the first twenty or so minutes there was no point in listening to them. They were not making progress and they had started to get on my nerves.

"You are insane if you think that I will send my only daughter to her death, Victor." My father shot back in a low voice. He was against the plan Uncle Victor and I had come up with. He thought that it was simply stupid and insanely dangerous. Alright! I will admit it was dangerous, but come on, we were going to kill Strigoi and that shit was never easy.

"You have to admit it, Ibrahim. Their plan is good." Uncle Eric said, his voice eerily calm. It was the first time he had spoken since the meeting started. "It's not like Rose will be alone. We have four spirit users and one Alchemist on our side.

We won't fail." From the corner of my eye I could see Robert and Sonya nodding, agreeing to what Lissa's dad said. I saw Sydney snuggling closer to Adrian.

Sydney was an Alchemist and Adrian's fiancée. They got engaged two weeks ago, and I couldn't help but be a little jealous at how happy they were. Their relationship wasn't easy; the Alchemists despised vampires, evil and good alike. But they were forced to work with Moroi to protect humans. We needed to be hidden and Alchemists were more than happy to help. When word got out that Sydney had relations with an Evil Creature of the Night (that's how they liked to refer to us) all hell broke loose. They wanted to send Sydney to a boot camp of sorts because she had dared to do something so "vile" as to break the vows she gave to them. My father stepped in just in time and took care of everything. How, I will never know. Sydney was allowed to live with Adrian but she had to give up many things, one of them being her family. I talked to her about it many times and often asked if she regretted staying here with us, and every time I would get the same answer "I love Adrian, Rose, I could never live without him. My place is here beside him." Sydney was one of the few people that truly understood what I was going through. She turned to me and gave a small smile, letting me know that she would be by my side no matter what we decided in the end.

"How can you be so sure Eric? She is not alone anymore!" My mother's voice rang through the room for the first time. I felt Lissa's hand squeezing mine trying to comfort me. My mom was right I wasn't alone anymore. Dimitri might be gone but he made sure to leave me something behind to live for. "What if something goes wrong? What will I say to my grandson when he asks me why he doesn't have a mother? That she went after his father and he killed her?" I flinched at her words. For me Dimitri had died a long time ago but hearing it from someone else still hurt.

"Dimitri died for me - for us - a year ago, mom. What do you want me to do? Lock myself up somewhere praying that he won't find me? Live the rest of my life in fear that I might die?" By now everyone were looking at me like I had grown a second head. I had been really quiet the last few days. But leaving them to decide for me was a mistake.

"And going after him is the right thing to do, Rosemarie?" My father asked raising his voice. God I hate it when he used my full name. "Do you really want to leave your son without a mother?"

"I'm not going to die. He wants me too much. He would never let them kill me!"

I was sure about that. Dimitri loved me very much while he was a Dhampir, but now as a Strigoi his love had become an obsession. He had this weird, twisted fantasy that I will become a Strigoi willingly and we will rule his Strigoi army together. Letters had been coming for me for the past year or so and my family did their best to keep me protected until Aleksei was born. I had moved from St. Vladimir's Academy – where I was teaching - back to Court. It was the safest place for me to be but that was proved wrong three days ago.

A note was left for me in my room while I was out. Dimitri had sent letters to me in the past, but they always came through the post. I'd never had them actually placed in my room and left for me to find them. The fact that Dimitri had someone inside Court made everyone nervous. My father lost it, asking the guardians to put Court on a lock down. Finally, my mother calmed him enough that we could talk. A talk that started three days ago, was still going on, and to be quite frank, had lead nowhere so far.

"You can't know that, Rose. It's too dangerous." This time it was Tasha who spoke. "Besides are you ready to go into a fight? It's been only three months since you had Aleksei. Isn't it bad enough that he will grow up without his father? You can't let my nephew grow up without his mother too, Rose. Please!" Tasha pleaded as Ethan wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. Ethan was Tasha's guardian who turned out to be a lot more. She and Dimitri were very good friends, almost like siblings and losing him caused her just as much pain as it did me; Aleksei was all that we had left of Dimitri.

"That's enough for today." Robert's voice was crystal clear. Robert was Victor's older brother and a Moroi everyone respected. He was known for being very fair and wise and the Queen had asked for his advice many times. "We need rest. We will resume talking about this tomorrow." The tone of his voice left no room for arguments.

"But Robert..." I tried to protest.

"I said that's enough, Rosemarie! We are done for today." I felt like a child again. Like I did something wrong and was about to get punished. But I knew better than to pick a fight with him. Seeing that there was nothing for me here anymore I left the room as soon as possible.

**#~#~#**

After a quick trip to Aleksei's nursery to check on him I made my way to the office in my chambers. I filled a glass with wine, settled myself in the armchair beside the fireplace and let the memories of my last night with Dimitri torture me once again.

"_Please Dimitri! I'm begging you don't go." We were in our bedroom at the academy. It had been just a few hours since the attack and the guardians were already planning to try and rescue the students and other guardians that were captured by Strigoi. We really didn't know what happened but in the middle of the day the school had been attacked by a big group of Strigoi, which took everyone by surprise. He cupped my face and kissed me softly on the lips._

"_I have to, Roza. They need me." He pleaded with me to understand. "I will be back before you know it." He assured me but I knew better. Something inside me told me to not let him go._

"_What if something goes wrong? The wedding is only a week away. Please, Dimitri you can't leave me now. I will die without you. You know that, please I'm begging you! Don't go."_

"_That's enough, Roza! I'm going and there is nothing you can do about it!" I hated it when he spoke to me like that. In that stupid tone that said I-am-older-so-I-know- better._

"_I'm not your student anymore, Comrade. It would be best for you to stop using that tone with me. I wasn't scared of you back then and I'm not now either." I narrowed my eyes, silently challenging him to say something. I knew very well what buttons to push so I could get my way._

"_My tone is perfectly fine, Roza. You need to understand that I have to do my job." He hissed. "I won't stay behind just because you asked me to. Do I need to remind you that Eddie is amongst those the Strigoi took?" I flinched at the mention of Eddie's name. He had been my friend Mia's boyfriend since we were fifteen and I thought of him as more than just a friend. He was like a brother to me. I took a deep breath trying to calm myself._

"_All right! I will come with you then." I said crossing my arms in front of my chest. If I couldn't make him stay behind I would go with him._

"_No you are not!" He said raising his voice a little, he was getting frustrated and any moment now he would give up._

"_Did you just raise your voice?" I hissed lowly. "Did you just shout at me like I'm a five-year-old?" This was not what I was planning. I was going for the You-are-right- Roza thing._

"_You know what I give up. Do whatever you want!" He said throwing his hands up in the air and then promptly left me alone in our bedroom, slamming the door on his way out._

_I did the only thing I could. I changed into my nightdress and went to bed, as it was already late. For once my mom was right. Never go to bed angry!_

_I woke up a little while later to lips pressed against my shoulder and hands running up and down my body. I didn't need to open my eyes to know that it was Dimitri. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I shouldn't have talked to you like that." He said kissing his way down my neck._

"_I'm sorry I was a bitch. I'm just scared that I will lose you." I said running my fingers through his hair and pulling his head back up so I could kiss him. I couldn't explain it, but as stupid as it sounded I needed Dimitri like I needed air to breath._

"_Will you let me make it up to you?" I nodded and kissed him again. His skilled fingers traveled down my body towards the hem of my nightdress. He grabbed the_

_silky fabric and in one swift move of his hands I was left naked in front of him. Dimitri sat back, his eyes taking me in and making me blush. I was not a virgin but every time with him felt like it was my first. "You have no idea how beautiful you look like that." He whispered huskily, the light from the bedside lamp illuminating the room with a faint glow; enough for me to see the lust and love in his deep brown eyes. God! How much I loved those eyes._

"_Why don't you show me?" I said shyly as I sat up. I cupped his cheek bringing his face closer to mine so I could kiss him. I was dying for him to touch me, to show me what it felt like to be loved. And I got my wish; his hands tangled themselves in my hair as he lowered me to our bed._

"_You are wearing too many clothes." I whined as I felt the barrier of fabric between us. He chuckled and got up; for a moment I thought he would leave like this just to punish me for how I acted earlier. But those thoughts left my mind when he removed his t-shirt. I turned to lie on my side as I watched my very handsome fiancé. He was a sight to behold as he stripped down to his boxers._

"_See something you like, Roza?" His accent was purposely more pronounced while he smirked and raised an eyebrow at me._

"_I most certainly do, Comrade." I smiled seductively at him. "Care to join me in this cold and empty bed?" I said as he finally removed his boxers and made his way back to me._

"_Lonely without me aren't you?" He teased me, laying his body on top of me. I let out a low moan at the delicious feel of his naked skin against mine. My heart was beating faster and I could feel liquid heat pooling between my legs just at the thought of what was to come._

"_Yes I..." I was ready to shoot back one of my witty remarks but his tongue slipped inside my mouth making me forget everything. A whine left my lips as Dimitri pulled back to catch his breath. He trailed soft kisses down my neck and when he took a nipple in his mouth I threw my head back as pleasure coursed through me._

"_Dimitri! Please." I gasped at the wonderful sensation. He always knew the right things to do to make me beg for his touch. I laced my fingers through his hair pulling him even closer to me as the earlier fears I had came rushing back. Imagining my world without Dimitri in it was simple unbearable._

"_What Roza? What do you need?" He whispered huskily against my skin, his fingers joining the game and travelling down my body to the place where I needed them most._

"_I need you! Now!" I heard a whimper and faintly registered that it came from me. His lips slid back to mine as his fingers slipped inside of me._

"_Please!" I moaned and squirmed, aching for his fingers to continue when he pulled back, my nails clawing down his back hard enough to draw blood, making Dimitri moan at the pleasurable pain. "Please, Comrade, stop teasing me."_

"_Your wish is my command, Roza." He chuckled darkly and thrust inside me. I let my head fall back on my pillow, relishing in the feel of him and how good he felt inside of me. Enjoying the sensual fire that was spreading slowly over my body. We've been together many times likes this but it always amazed me how it felt like it was our first. Even after five years of being a couple._

"_Oh God!" I moaned wrapping my legs tightly around his waist, bringing him closer to me. My mind went blank the moment he started moving and the only thing I could register was Dimitri. His taste, his scent, and the way his lips felt against mine._

"_I love you Roza." He panted in the crook of my neck. "I love you so much it hurts." He said kissing me passionately. Our breaths mixed as he laced our fingers together, bringing our hands to rest on either side of my face._

"_I love you too, Comrade." I whispered, tears ready to spill from my eyes. It felt like it was our last time together. Like I would never see him again. This time felt like we were saying goodbye. "Please don't leave me!" I tried to beg him but it came out like a deep moan._

"_Never, Roza." He assured me. "You are mine and I'm yours." He whispered, his pace getting faster, bringing both of us to an ecstatic climax._

"_Uh, Dimitri!" I wailed as waves of pleasure coursed through me. Dimitri followed after a few more thrusts. He moved to lay beside me but I tightened my legs around him, keeping him as close to me as possible, while our bodies were connected in the most intimate way._

"_Please don't cry, Roza." He kissed my lips, as he gently wiped the tears from my eyes. I wasn't aware that I was crying until he did that. "Everything will be all right. I'm not leaving you."_

"_I know. It's just..." A small sob left my lips, but this time was from pain and not pleasure. "I have this stupid feeling that this is our last time together like this." Dimitri rested beside me pulling me against him tightly. I snuggled closer to his body, breathing in the scent of his aftershave combined with the scent of sex and my perfume._

"_Trust me, Roza, this is not our last time. I plan on doing this with you many times after we are married." He laughed and I raised my head to look at him._

"_After we get married?" I asked puzzled. Did that mean that I would go a whole week without sleeping with him?_

"_Of course." He answered raising an eyebrow at me. "You know it's the only way to make babies." He chuckled at my mortified expression. I knew Dimitri wanted kids, but I was still only twenty-two, I wanted to wait a little while longer. I wasn't ready to share him with anyone yet._

"_I'm afraid we will have to wait a little, Comrade." I said resting my head on his chest. "Good night." I said already half asleep, exhausted from what we did earlier._

"_Good night, my Roza."_

And I was right. That was the last time we spent together. A few hours later Dimitri left with the rescue team and never came back. I still can't remember the whole thing, only small parts. I can recall Alberta's face when she told me the news, then someone screaming and then nothing.

Later my mom told me that the screams were mine. Apparently I had blanked out; the doctor had said that I couldn't handle the shock and emotional pain and I just shut everything out. For a whole week I hadn't eaten or spoken to anyone; I was locked away in my room with one of Dimitri's shirts on, waiting for him to walk through the door.

Until I collapsed from exhaustion; I woke up in the hospital this time hooked up on machines, IVs and all that. That was the day my whole life really changed. When I asked what the hell happened, my doctor informed me that I was pregnant. I was only a few weeks gone. That little detail turned my world upside down. Joy, fear, sadness, the feelings were all mixed inside of me. How would I do this without Dimitri? How would I raise a child alone?

I can still remember that day. It was the first time I cried, and I mean really cried. It took my mom and Lissa two hours to comfort me and calm me down enough so the doctors could check on me again to make sure that the baby was fine.

The next few months were heaven and hell all at once. Seeing our child growing without having Dimitri to share the experience made me depressed and I hated it. I was never the weak type; I always got what I wanted and didn't let anything bring me down. But to go through morning sickness or feel my little angel move for the first time or his first kick without Dimitri was simply torture. I don't even know how many times I cried myself to sleep. My dad couldn't bear seeing me like that, and tried to comfort me; he spent hours with me trying to get my mind off of Dimitri and make me focus on the only thing that mattered - my baby. He tried everything to make his princess happy, but the only thing I wanted was the father of my child.

When Aleksei was born and the nurse let him rest on my chest for the first time everything fell in to place again. Dimitri and I had created this little life and he needed someone to protect him and that someone was me. Olena came to visit us a few days later and saw her grandson for the first time. Her face was stained with tears and when I asked her what was wrong she told me that Aleksei was a replica of Dimitri when he was a baby. That information brought tears to my eyes all over again. I won't lie; I was completely lost and scared even though I had so many people that loved me and the baby so much.

"You shouldn't be drinking." My head snapped towards the voice only to see Uncle Victor standing by the door.

"And you should be in bed." I teased him as he took the seat opposite mine. I knew why he was here, this would be one of the long nights we spent together talking about everything. When I was younger I used to spend a lot of time with him. I was fascinated by how many things he knew, he was also the one who taught me how to use my element as a weapon when needed. When I was growing up, whenever I had days where I would feel particularly blue or had a problem I would seek advice from him. After Nat turned into a Strigoi this became something like a ritual to us.

Every two weeks Uncle Victor would visit me at the academy and we would spend the day together. We would practice, I would tell him my news and he would tell me all the gossip from the Court. He was the first to know about my relationship with Dimitri and he supported us wholeheartedly. Of course, he wasn't thrilled with the age difference but he helped us anyway.

"What's on your mind, kiddo?" He always knew when there was something wrong with me. I loved Uncle Victor very much; he was like a second father to me. I used to be really good friends with his daughter Natalie when I was younger. But when we were still in school Natalie chose to become a Strigoi willingly. She wanted immortality and foolishly thought that becoming a Strigoi would give her that. Needless to say, Victor was devastated by this.

"Nothing and everything," I murmured. "It_ hurts_ you know." I said after a few minutes of silence, while Victor waited patiently for me to continue. "To have to live without him, I mean. To see our child growing and to have no one to share the experience. I know you guys love us but it feels like it's not enough. I need _him_." I admitted feeling a little guilty about my own thoughts.

"I know how it feels to lose someone, Rosemarie." He said sincerely. He had lost his wife in a car accident and a few years later he lost Natalie too. Sometimes I think that if it wasn't for my father and Uncle Eric he would have died too. "I understand how difficult this is for you but it has to be done. Dimitri is not the man you once loved. He doesn't love you anymore, he can't love you anymore." He leaned forward taking my hands in his. "But you owe it to the man you loved to free his body. To let his soul rest." He rubbed the back of my hands soothingly, trying to comfort me. Strigoi were Moroi or Dhampirs and sometimes humans that gave up their souls to gain immortality or they were turned forcibly, against their will.

"I'm so scared." I confessed, tears running down my cheeks freely. "I'm scared that I will mess this up, that I will not have the power to do it in the end." I sobbed and Victor pulled me in to a tight hug.

"My sweet Rosemarie." He whispered kissing my forehead like only a father would do. "You are a strong young woman. You have never disappointed me and you were one of the best students I ever had. Your magic is more powerful than you want to believe and so is your willpower. There is nothing you can't do if you set your mind on it." He smiled sweeping my tears away.

"I'm not so sure about that." I said thoughtfully and that earned me a little laugh from him.

"Trust me, my little Zmeyette, you can do it." He said, his eyes sparkling with amusement at the stupid nickname. They used to call my dad "The Zmey" (or "The Snake" in English if you want) when he was younger because he had the ability to get away with anything and get his way with everything. Apparently I could do the same. "I have faith in you, Rose. If I knew you couldn't do it I would never send you after him. But if someone can bring Dimitri Belikov down, that someone is you."

"But what if..." He placed a finger on my lips to silence me.

"You can do it. As long as you remember the only rule I taught you." His eyes turned serious. "Do not hesitate, Rosemarie. When you have the chance you have to stake him." He said squeezing my hands.

"I know." I nodded, more tears already welling up in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks like waterfalls. When I was finally done with yet another mental breakdown I rested my head back on the armchair. My temples throbbed and I sighed, knowing that a headache was slowly forming. "Uncle Victor," I said looking in to his jade green eyes. "Will you tell me one of your stories?" He laughed and kicked his legs up on the coffee table as he settled back in his armchair.

"I thought you would never ask." His eyes twinkled mischievously. "Now there was one time that your dad and I..." I settled back and let his voice lull me into a hopefully peaceful sleep.

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**A/N: I would love to hear what you think… So drop me a review and let me know! **


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey there! I want to thank everyone that reviewed or added the story and me on their favs and alerts! Thank you! On the books RM said that the Court was located in Pennsylvania but never said where exactly. I needed something more specific and so I wanted to thank Constant Comment Tea for helping me find my way around Pennsylvania since I have no idea. Thank you girl!**

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**_~Chapter Two~_**

A small wail woke me up and I glanced down at Aleksei's little form beside me. It seemed my little angel was hungry again. He was so fragile, so sweet and innocent and it pained me that in a few years he would have to deal with all the evil in the world. That he would have to throw himself in front of Strigoi to protect other Moroi. There is only so much I could do to keep him protected.

"What's up little man?" I said rubbing his tummy. "Are you hungry again?" I picked him up and settled back against my headboard so he could nurse. Aleksei latched on a nipple as soon as my top was lowered and sucked hungrily. I closed my eyes and rested my head back allowing the sweet sounds my baby did to comfort me. Every day was harder to live without Dimitri; it was like a whole part of me had left me. Aleksei was the only thing keeping me going.

I let my mind wander to the nights I spent with Dimitri curled up in bed reading. Actually to be fair he was reading to me. Dimitri could be really bad-ass while in guarding mode but when it came to me he would find a million and one ways to woo me. I used to believe in happy endings back then and my prince did everything he could to give them to me.

"_Stop laughing!" I giggled, yet tried to stay serious. "I'm not kidding Comrade! It's not funny!" I warned him pretending fake annoyance, crossing my arms over my chest._

"_I'm not judging you Roza." He chuckled as he made his way out of the bathroom. "I think it's good you want to start reading." His smile was a teasing one as he slipped beside me in our bed._

"_If it wasn't for the stupid bet with Christian I wouldn't have to read it!" I whined as I looked down to the black book on my lap, **~Love Letters of Great Men and Women~ By CH Charles**, was written on the cover in big gold letters. In the heat of the moment while I was arguing with Christian I let him lure me into a bet. He dared me to read a book and give him a full report of it. Never one to back down I took it and now I was regretting it. "He knew very well that I don't like reading!"_

"_What's the fun in making you do something you would enjoy, love?" Dimitri asked in a matter-of-fact tone. "Here, let me have it." He said reaching out to take the book from my lap._

"_What are you doing?" I asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow._

"_Christian only said you had to read the book, not how you have to do it." He smiled mischievously at me. That's my smart Russian fiancé, I thought. I plopped myself beside him, laying my head against his shoulder. "Ready?" I nodded and he started reading._

_~Letter To My Immortal Beloved~_

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us...

Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits...

No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves ... Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men...

My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once...

Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved_._

Ever thine,

Ever mine,

Ever ours.

_~Ludwig Van Beethoven~_

"_Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" His eyes -sparkling with amusement- were also full of love and adoration._

"_No, that was really romantic." I kissed his lips softly. "Maybe you should read to me more often." I placed the book on my nightstand and straddled his waist._

"_And what would I get out of this deal?" His lips were already making their way down my neck, placing sweet kisses. In mere seconds I was flat on my back with Dimitri above me. I could never get over the fact how handsome and perfect he was, for me at least. When I say perfect I don't mean it in that ridiculous idea some people had about him being all god-like, no. Perfect in the idea of someone that can stand by my side, be my equal, be there for me when I need him and put me in my place when needed, too. Dimitri was all that for me and so much more._

"_You will get me." I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist and kissed him deeply trying to emphasize my point by grinding my hips against his. A low moan slipped between my lips as I felt how hard he was._

"_Then you have a deal." He chuckled darkly and took my lips in another passionate kiss that made my knees grow weak and filled my stomach with butterflies._

I'm pretty sure that was the night our baby was made. I wish I knew that a few short weeks later I would lose one of the two men that had my heart. Aleksei's wail brought me out of my daydream about Dimitri. "That's it? You are done?" I placed him against my shoulder, rubbing his back helping him burp. When he was done I adjusted him in my arms, my little boy looked just like his dad. They had the same chocolate brown eyes, the same bow shaped lips, the same dark hair, and the same place in my heart.

"I love you, my little one. I hope you know that." My heart ached as I looked down on those sweet and innocent eyes. Someone knocked on my door and I wiped my tears away, it wouldn't do for my family to see me like this, crying over Dimitri again. Especially when I was trying to convince them that I could do it, that I could kill him.

"Come in." My voice was a little shaky but other than that, my mask was in place, no one would see me breaking down. My father walked in still dressed in his pajamas, his face scrunched up in thought. "What's up old man? Couldn't sleep?" I asked him, a smile pulling at my lips.

"No, I couldn't." He sat beside me on the bed. "Plus I heard Aleksei cry and wanted to check on him." He looked down at the sleeping baby in my arms.

"May I hold him?" He asked and I placed the baby carefully in his arms. My father was smitten with his grandson from the very first time they met. Abe Mazur never showed his feelings, he was a serious man and could be cruel at times but when it came to his family he would do everything in his power to protect and keep them happy. I remember many times my dad taking me to ballet classes or staying with me at night because I'd had a bad dream and I was scared. It pained me that Aleksei wouldn't have the same. "I don't know what I will do with you!" He suddenly exclaimed, though he was careful not to wake the baby. "I mean, I knew you were crazy, you are my daughter for God's sake, but this? To want to risk your life like that? You are not alone anymore, Rosemarie. Give me one good reason why I should allow this?"

"I have to do it. I don't ask you to understand me Dad," I whispered. "I just need you to trust and support me in this." I pleaded with him to understand.

"You have it." My father murmured after a few minutes of silence never taking his eyes from Aleksei's sleeping form.

"What?" I asked distracted.

"My support, you have it," He smiled as Aleksei cooed and wiggled, trying to get more comfortable. "But I swear to everything that is holy, Rosemarie Mazur, if you get yourself killed, I will bring you back and kill you again myself!" His eyes turned serious as he looked me and I was sure that he meant what he said. If I didn't bring my ass back safe, he would kill me. He placed Aleksei beside me on the bed and leaned over to me, kissing my forehead.

"I love you, kizim." He whispered, reminding of what I said to my son earlier. "Never forget that."

"I love you too, baba." Tears were already welling up my eyes, threatening to spill. Aleksei cooed in his sleep again and my dad looked down at him.

"And I love you too, little man." He mumbled kissing the infant's temple. "Good night."

"Baba," He turned to look at me. "What about mom?" He seemed to understand what I was asking because seconds later a sly smile crawled its way up his lips.

"She is not going to like it, kiz!" Now that was a problem.

**#~#~#**

The next morning found us all back to the conference room. Only this time everyone was silent watching my mother and me. As I expected it, she didn't take the news well. She had been going on and on and on for the last hour screaming at me about how irresponsible I am. No one dared to speak against her while she was like this. Janine Hathaway was a very calm woman, she never yelled or lost her self-control, but when she did, you didn't want to cross paths with her.

"Stop!" I yelled and everyone turned to look at me. "Just stop!"

"What?" My mother hissed, narrowing her eyes.

"I said stop." I murmured through gritted teeth. "We are not here to discuss whether you approve of the plan or not, mom. It's decided, I'm going and there is nothing you can do about it!" My voice rose slightly. "You can either stay here and listen or leave."

"You know what, do whatever you want! I give up." Her words stung a little. She turned around and left the room. I knew she would be like this, my mom would never agree to something as crazy as the plan we had.

"Now what?" Lissa asked a few moments later.

"We are going over the plan again." I said calmly. "Uncle Victor do you want to do it?" I said looking over at him.

"Yes, of course." He said rising from his chair. "We can't make Dimitri come here, so Rose will have to go to him. We know where he lives and it will be easy."

"But how can we be sure that she will be safe until they meet?" Christian asked from beside Lissa. He was one of the few people that believed that I could go through with it. He was a fire user like me and he had seen firsthand what I could do.

"Dimitri is watching me. He said so in all the letters he has sent me so far. He is waiting for a chance, one time that I will be alone so he can change me, regardless of whether I want it or not." I said shuddering at the thought of what Dimitri had become.

"Okay, let's say that you get in, then what?" Adrian asked. "How are we going to communicate, Rose? And let's say that you succeed and kill him, how are you going to get out alive with so many Strigoi inside the house?" He had a point here.

"It's very simple." Robert answered him before I could. "She will have to memorize the house so she can get out. We will take turns to visit Rose in her dreams to make sure she is okay. Once we have the design of the place Alberta and the other Guardians will form a plan to take out the Strigoi surrounding it. Rose will focus on killing Dimitri. How she will do it is up to her." Alberta nodded along with what Robert said. She was the head of the Guardians at the Academy and a very good family friend, she along with a couple others –friends of Dimitri and people that worked for my father- would back me up.

"Still, Robert, there are so many things we haven't considered yet!" Lissa piped in.

"We have Moroi fire and water users that will help us. There is a lake close to the house Dimitri is in so Mia can come with us if she wants. I'm sure she will be really useful. And there is no question that Christian, Tasha and Abe will follow us. Victor and Rose have planned everything, Vasilisa. I trust them with my life, don't you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Mia winked at me from the other side of the room. She was a good friend and a very talented water user, the things she could do with her element were insane.

"Yeah but..." Robert cut her off before she could speak.

"You have your answer, Vasilisa. They know what they are doing. Everything is going to be fine. Moving on, I believe Ms. Sage has something for Rose. Right?" He looked at Sydney and she took it as her cue to start explaining about the various potions she had made for me.

**#~#~#**

Three hours and a headache later we were released. We went over the plan three more times to make sure we all had it right. The Court was located in the Pocono

Mountains, away from humans but not completely cut off from civilization. From what my dad could find –I didn't ask how, it's better to not know- Dimitri lived in an estate located beside the Deep Lake on State Game Lands 38. It was a five hour trip and I had to drive there. From what his source told my father, Dimitri had placed Strigoi everywhere to hunt me down and take me to him alive.

After a lot of discussion it was decided that Alberta, Eddie and a few other guardians would drive me half way there and then I would continue alone. While I was away my father would send Aleksei somewhere safe just in case. We were leaving as soon as the sun rose; it was safer to travel in the daylight because Strigoi couldn't be out in the sun. That meant that I had only a few hours with Aleksei. Truth be told I wasn't even sure if I would come back alive and that made the moment much more painful. But it had to be done, if I wanted to live the rest on my life in peace I had to kill Dimitri.

"Rose!" I turned around and came face to face with Mason. He had been my best friend since we were 5 years old. He was another Dhampir and had a crush on me for years, even before my relationship with Dimitri. I made it very clear to him that I saw him only as a friend, a brother even; but since Dimitri had been turned Strigoi against his will it seemed that Mason thought that I would change my mind and give him a chance. He refused to see that for me it would always be Dimitri and no one else, my heart belonged to Dimitri even if he was no longer alive.

"Mason," I gave him a quick hug not wanting to get his hopes up. "Do you need something?"

"I need to talk to you." He said pulling me to sit beside him.

"About what?" I was pretty sure what he was going to say. My mother and Mason were against the idea of me going after Dimitri.

"About the suicide mission you want to go on." I opened my mouth but he stopped me before I could make a sound. "Don't! Just hear me out Rose. You don't have to do this. Let us take care of it and then you can have a life again. You can stay here or go back to the Academy and if you want I can stay with you. I can protect you Rose, I can be a father to your son if you let me. You don't have to be alone in this. You don't have to let Aleksei grow up without a father. I love you Rose!" I could tell that he meant what he said but I couldn't bring myself to accept his offer. Mason was a sweet guy and I believed he loved me, but he wasn't Dimitri.

Have you ever heard of this weird thing that some people like to call true love? Well, as cheesy as it sounds, I had it with Dimitri. He was the first and only man that I gave myself to and I will never regret it. I already loved once and though he is dead my love for him is still alive. I knew the life I had ahead of me would be a lonely one. I didn't plan to get married or even start a relationship with someone else. I would focus on Aleksei and when my time came I would go and find Dimitri in the afterlife. Therefore, I could never give Mason what he wanted and to even think about trying would be unfair to him. He deserved to find a girl that would love him as I loved Dimitri. Just because I didn't have my happy ending it didn't mean that everyone else couldn't either. And Mason deserved that more than anyone.

"Mason," I took his hands in mine. I could feel tears welling up again and it seemed that crying was the only thing I had done for the past few months. "I'm truly sorry, but you know I don't feel the same way. I have made it clear in the past that I don't want to lead you on." My heart broke a little as his face fell. "I can't promise you something that I know will never happen. I wish I could feel for you the way you want me to, I really do, but my heart belongs to someone else until the day I die. I love Dimitri, even if I know he is not with me anymore, and I can't pretend that I don't. You may think that you'd be okay with it now, but in the future, you wouldn't, and you'd resent me for pretending to feel something that wasn't there, and that would ruin our friendship. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to ruin what we have. You deserve to find true love, Mason. I'm sorry, but I can't." I finished with a shaky breath.

"I understand." He said shaking his head. "But it was worth trying." He smiled a small sad smile. They say time heals everything and I hoped that this would happen for Mason too. With time he would move on because there was no future for him with me.

"I really am sorry, Mason." I told him as I got up and made my way to the door. I couldn't believe that I just broke his heart again. But there was no other way. I left him alone in the conference room. I needed to pack and then spend the rest of my time with my baby.

I was really scared about what I was going to do. I had been in fights with Strigoi before but I didn't know them. Dimitri, on the other hand, I knew him very well. I didn't plan on taking him down in a battle, no; I would have to be trickier with him. I would have to make him trust me; think that I really was ready to follow him in that sick life he was forced to live. And I might have just thought of a very good way to do that.

I stopped dead in my tracks as I opened the door to my rooms. My mother was waiting for me in the living room. She was busying herself playing with Aleksei while waiting for me. I thought I had made it clear to her that I would go after Dimitri whether she liked it or not. I stepped in the room and closed the door silently behind me. They made a beautiful picture, she and the baby, and I wished I had a camera to shoot the sweet moment. Just like my father, she too was smitten with the newest member of our family.

"Mother." I said in a respectful tone. We may fight all the time but I respected my mom very much. Growing up, I wanted to be just like her; Janine Hathaway was always so collected and calm. She had this charisma to win people over with the way she talked, she always sounded so wise. Even the people that didn't like her respected her. But she was very sneaky too, there was a reason no one could blame my father for his illegal _'business'_ and that reason was my mother. Honestly, she was the mastermind behind the empire my dad built. "Can I help you with something?"

"Come sit beside me, Rosemarie." She said in the same soothing voice she would use to talk to me when I was young, never taking her eyes from Aleksei. I obeyed her, not wanting to upset the quiet family moment. I settled myself beside her and waited for the usual lecture. "I have faith in you. I always believed that you were born to do great things. And you will, Victor is already preparing you to take a place beside Vasilisa as her advisor when she gets the throne." In our world Moroi and Dhampirs were ruled by a monarch, the current one, Queen Tatiana was about to retire. She did her job very well the last thirty or so years and it was time for her to let someone younger step on the throne.

Every royal family could suggest one family member, so long as there were of age, as a candidate for the throne. As per tradition, the monarch would put the candidates through missions to prove that they were worthy of the responsibility. The Dragomir family planned to nominate Lissa with the support of the Dashkov family of course. Lissa was perfect for that role; she could win over even the hardest of people with her charm and settle arguments in a way that everyone would win something. Uncle Victor was sure that she was the next Queen and always said that with me by her side to support her Lissa would change many things for the better in our world. She and I had been inseparable since we were in nappies and there was nothing we couldn't do together. They say that a good leader needs someone to trust, I was that someone for Lissa.

"I focused on you from the very first moment I knew I was pregnant," She continued. "I tried to raise you right by my beliefs and not what the others thought right. And I succeeded to a point, but I want you to understand me, Rose. You were a gift given to your father and me by God. I could never allow you to take off in something so dangerous without even putting up a little fight. But of course, you are your father's daughter, and you will always do your own thing." After they had me my mother learned that she couldn't have any more children because of a complication. That almost killed both my parents because they wanted a big family. Instead, they thanked God for blessing them with a child and focused solely on me and I loved them dearly for that. They gave me the best things a kid could have, and I'm not referring to material things. I have many memories of bedtime stories, walks in the park and countless hours on the swig in our backyard. Those memories for me were priceless.

"What I'm trying to say is that I will not try to stop you." She sighed, picking Aleksei up and hugging him tight to her chest as he burbled at her. "I don't really understand why you are doing this and I'm not sure I want to but I'm begging you. Please! Just please come back home alive because I'm not sure if I can handle losing you. I already lost one child in the last year." She finished her little speech and kissed Aleksei's small head. My mom had a special relationship with Dimitri. She knew from the very first moment she saw us together that there was something there. Over the years she came to see him as a real son and she hurt just as much as Olena when we lost him.

"Oh, mom!" Tears were running down my cheeks and I hugged her, carefully so I didn't squeeze the baby. "I promise, mom, I will be okay! I love you, mom." Sobs joined the tears, which lead to both of us being a crying mess.

"I know, baby, and I love you, too." She said kissing my hair and rubbed my back, soothing me. Aleksei gurgled again between us, feeling left out. "And we all love you, too, little man." I said kissing his chubby cheeks.

"I have packed your things and I hid all the weapons you will need very well. Sydney came over a few minutes ago and left the potions for you. I also sharpened the two silver hairpins Dimitri gave you for your last birthday and made some of my friends charm them, so they will work as stakes." I raised an eyebrow at her as I pulled away and wiped my tears.

"Why?" I was curious what she was about.

"You don't really think that you will sneak a stake in there do you?" She said in a matter-of-fact voice. "When Dimitri sees the hairpins he will simply think that you kept his presents to remember him. Now how you will use the pins to stake him it's up to you. You have the rest of the day to spend with your son." She handed Aleksei to me and kissed my forehead. "Have fun!"

I watched her as she walked away gracefully. A plan was already forming in my mind. My mom was a strong woman indeed and I was proud to say that I was like her in many ways.

* * *

**A/N: Poor Mason! I feel sorry for him! So tell me what you think! **


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Two more chapters and a small epilogue left to go!**

* * *

~Chapter Three~

Ten hours later the sun was up and we were on our way towards where Dimitri lived. We took two cars so I could continue alone later. Uncle Victor insisted on coming along with us, and I had no choice but to accept it. Truth be told it calmed me a little bit to have him here. I always hated goodbyes and everyone knew that but it didn't stop them from waiting for me outside by the cars. 'Goodbye' was always so final, it was like you said to the other person that you would never see each other ever again, and I planned to come back to my family safe and sound. I owed it to my son to come back to him.

My usual reaction to goodbyes was always to bitch about them and to point out how much I hated them to anyone that would listen to me.

But when I saw all of my family and friends waiting for me I could only try to hold back the tears. So I let it slip this time and instead I hugged them all, kissed my son's head and promised my parents that I would be back before they knew it. Still, it felt like they thought that I would not make it back alive. So much for having faith in me, I thought.

My mind went back to the task in hand.

_I was going to kill the love of my life._

I remember a few years ago when I was in school my literature teacher assigned the whole class to read Romeo and Juliet. It was supposed to be the greatest love tragedy, two lovers loosing their lives because of people that couldn't get past their prejudices. I read it against my will because if I hadn't given her a report about my thoughts on the book she would have given me a zero on the assignment. While reading it I found myself suffering along with Juliet a little, what they did to her was simply cruel. I couldn't imagine how difficult it was for her to live without Romeo. I even cried reading their last words. Now, years later, I was almost in the same situation as she had been. I had to live without the man that holds my heart. The only difference between our two situations was that she had it easy. Juliet never had to drive a stake through Romeo's heart. She never had to kill him.

"You'll be fine." My head snapped up and my eyes locked with Eddie's hazel brown ones. "I know that look. You are questioning yourself and whether or not you really can go through with this. Trust me Rose, you'll be fine." He gave me that boyish smile of his, he sounded so sure for me.

"How can you be so sure?" My question surprised even me. I never voiced my doubts out loud. For me, it was weakness to tell someone that I was scared.

"The Rose I know is never scared of a challenge. That's what this battle is, Hathaway, a challenge. They only thing you need to remember is that the man

you will see before your eyes is not Dimitri. He might look like him but he is not," He said and turned to look at out of the window again.

I went back to my thoughts about Dimitri. I had accepted the fact that my fiancé was dead a long time ago. Dimitri no longer existed, as I knew him. But the thought that I would see him in a few short hours made me nervous. The loving and caring man that was going to be my husband only a year before, was now a cruel monster and the only things he really wanted were blood and power. In the many letters Dimitri wrote to me not once did he use the word 'love'. He continually went on and on about how I would be the perfect, powerful mate to stand beside him. He made very clear in every letter I received the last year that if I didn't join him willingly he would kill me. Dimitri was determined to either make me his or destroy me completely at any cost.

As the hours passed my plan on how to kill him formed inside my head. This was a battle I had to win. Contrary to Dimitri I had something to fight for, I had our son. I had to kill Dimitri so Aleksei and I could live a peaceful life. Maybe it would not be always safe but we would have one threat less to worry about.

Dimitri had to die.

Tall trees had surrounded me for the past hour as I sat by myself and thought things through for the last time. Alberta thought that it would be better to not get very close to Dimitri's estate in case there were Strigoi watching the area. I knew that the moment I stepped through those gates I would have to be someone else. In his mind, Dimitri had made me perfect. Flawless. Untouchable. He'd taken away my flaws until I was a completely different person, the person who he wanted to see, rather than who I really was. And I couldn't disappoint him. In order for my plan to work I had to be his Roza. I would play my part; make him believe that I was here because I wanted to be.

Finally the car came to a stop in front of two big iron gates. The sun was almost ready to set and I could see a guard making sure everything was in place. He was probably a human that wanted to become a Strigoi in the future. Strigoi couldn't walk in the sunlight because it would kill them; therefore they needed humans to help them during the day. Humans tended to beg Strigoi to turn them, pleading for immortality without knowing the cost.

In order to become a Strigoi, and live forever, you had to give up your soul.

That was a price I refused to pay. Immortality meant nothing to me if I would have to spend it craving blood and killing people for fun. In various conversations I had with Dimitri throughout the years we agreed on that; we would prefer to die than suffer that cruel destiny.

The guard caught sight of my car and came closer to inspect it. I rolled my window down and looked at him. He had short, dark hair and blue eyes, he reminded me slightly of Christian. He was tall and well built, and I was sure that he would make a great fighter if they let him live. His nametag read 'Peter'; he was definitely a human.

"Excuse me miss, but I think you are lost." I smiled at him widely, letting my fangs show.

"On the contrary, Peter," I said as I continued to smile. "I think your boss is waiting for me." I could see the fear burning in his eyes. Good, he should be afraid of me. "Tell him Rose Hathaway is looking for him." Peter hurried towards a small cabin - I assumed to let his bosses know that I was here. After a few minutes of talking on the phone he opened the gates and motioned for me to pass.

I led the car down the big driveway heading to the front of the house. Actually it was more of a mansion than just a simple house, and at least four stories tall. The building looked like it had influences from gothic architecture but I couldn't be sure. In another time and place Sydney would have loved to be here with me. She was in love with architecture and after she gave up her place as an Alchemist and was disowned by her father because of her choice she decided to study it too, following Adrian to college. She had always wanted to go to college but her job was to demanding for her to be able to go, plus her father didn't approve.

I pulled the car to a stop and was surprised at the person that waited for me by the front door. Galina was stood before me, her blonde hair tied up in a ponytail.

Galina was a Moroi I knew from the Court. We never really liked each other because we wanted the same thing. Dimitri. She and Dimitri had been good friends for years. She was in love with him but he saw her only as a friend. While Dimitri still worked at the Academy Galina offered him a proposal. She asked him to become her guardian and try having a relationship with her. They were both at the right age to start a family and on any other occasion Dimitri would have accepted the offer. It was very rare for a guardian to have the chance to become a parent. But then I came along and everything changed. Dimitri turned down Galina's offer and told her that another woman held his heart. Needless to say that his rejection devastated her, especially when she learned who the other woman was. Let's just say that we never got along very well.

I should have known that she would be the insider Dimitri had. She still foolishly believed that had a chance with him. I felt anger and jealousy rising inside of me at the very thought of Dimitri and her together. Did he sleep with her? That was the only question that was burning inside my mind. It was laughable. I was about to walk into a house full of bloodthirsty vampires and the only thing I was concerned about was whether Dimitri had slept with her or not.

I plastered an arrogant smile on my face and got out of the car. My long dress moved around me as a light wind picked up. You could feel the tension between

us. I had expected Dimitri to greet me so I had chosen to wear one the dresses he bought for me. This one was his favorite; he had given it to me as a birthday present when I became a legal adult. The dress was made from pure silk and it was dark blue in color. Dimitri loved that color on me and I had worn it on our first date. It hugged my breasts tightly and left the skirt of the dress flowing around me. I had my hair pinned up with the pins he had bought for me - the ones my mother had charmed. Dimitri loved it when I had my hair pinned up and they had been the final gift I'd ever received from him - during the last Christmas we spent together - and my engagement ring was back on my finger. I hoped that I looked like I wanted to be here and not like a threat.

"Galina, how nice to see you," I said coldly, the smile never leaving my face. I didn't even try to make my voice sound a little friendly. She smiled even wider, revealing her fangs to me. Seriously, she was trying to scare me?

"Yes, it is, Rosemarie." She knew how much I hated my full name. "Dimitri is waiting for you." I could hear the irony in her voice. She really believed that Dimitri would get rid of me. Apparently she was as stupid as I thought.

"I'm sure he is." I smiled sardonically. "Please lead the way." I motioned to her mockingly. It didn't matter that Dimitri was a Strigoi, he was mine. The thought that Galina considered the idea that she would be the one by my fiancé's side was flaming my jealousy even more.

I followed her through the hallways silently and with my head held high. I was moving like I owned the place. The walls were covered with beautiful paintings that I was sure cost a fortune. I would be impressed with my surroundings if not for the reason I was here. Galina stopped before two big oak doors and I assumed Dimitri was in the room behind them. My heart started to beat a little faster and I could feel nausea coming over me. I was on the verge of puking my guts out as reality caught up to me. On the other side of the door was the man I loved, the man that once held my heart. And I was here to take his life, if you could call it that anymore.

"Come in." I heard that voice I loved so much call out. My heart did a back flip and I pleaded with it to not get its hopes up. There was no way to get Dimitri back. Galina pushed the doors open and stepped aside to let me in. I took a deep breath and walked in, determined follow through with the stupid plan I had come up with. This was it! If I was going down I would be taking him with me.

Only a few lamps faintly illuminated the room. Heavy black curtains were covering the big widows, stopping any sunlight from passing through. My eyes fell instantly on the dark form sitting behind the desk.

_Dimitri._

Dimitri was sitting just a few feet away from me. My love, my life, my Comrade, and that's where I stopped myself. That was what everyone was afraid of, me confusing my feelings with what I had to do.

"Roza," His voice sent shivers down my back. It was exactly like I remembered it to be, deep and low, laced with that pantie-dropping accent he had. "I knew you would see reasonably and join me."

"Did you now?" I smiled widely but didn't look at him just yet. I tried to get a hold of myself and slowed my breathing a little. It wouldn't do for Dimitri to think that I was afraid of him, because I wasn't. Strigoi were never a problem for me, I could take them down in a breath. But this creature in front of me had held a great amount power over me once, when he still had a soul. I was afraid to look at him and shatter that last image I had of my love. From the last night I spent with him making love on our bed.

"My sweet Roza!" I let another shaky breath at the sound of his voice. _Focus Rose. You can do this. __I scolded my self._ "Always the brave one. That's what I like so much about you." Like not love. Victor's words came back to me, _'He __doesn't love you anymore, he can't love you anymore.'_

He was right. As much as I wanted to believe that my Dimitri was alive, and trust me I wanted it with all my heart, reality was really catching up with me. Now I just needed to lock my heart away and not listen to it until I was out of this hellhole.

"You set up a witch hunt for me, Dimitri," I said as I finally looked up at him. My breath caught in my throat and I barely held a gasp back at the sight before my eyes. There, sitting in the chair in front of me was the love of my life, exactly like I remembered him but different at the same time. Gone was the tanned skin he had, it was replaced by a deathly white. His dark, chocolate brown eyes I so loved were gone too, replaced by two pools of red. "Now, what do you want?" He smiled at me. But it wasn't the sweet smile that made my heart skip beats or my knees grow weak; this smile was dark and sinister.

In the blink of an eye Dimitri was standing in front of me.

"I want you, Roza," He whispered, as his fingers touched my cheek. "Let me awaken you and I will give you the world. I want you beside me. You are smart and strong willed. You will be a great ally." His lips were only a breath away from mine and his scent overwhelmed my senses. I looked up into his eyes and I felt the word revolving around me. The next thing I knew, Dimitri's arms were around me, pulling me closer to his body. I felt jolts of electricity running through me as his lips touched mine and it was like I was alive again. Dimitri felt familiar against me, but not quite the same.

Our eyes never leaving each other's, the urge to accept his offer became greater and I was ready to beg him to change me now. My body worked on it's on accord and I could feel heat pooling between my legs. It had been a long time since I'd last been with Dimitri like this. He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. And just like that the spell broke, but I didn't move away from him.

Stupid, stupid Rose! He was using compulsion on you! Damn it! I had forgotten about that. Moroi and Strigoi possessed a very dangerous power when they could use it right. Compulsion can be used on another person - humans, Moroi or Dhampirs alike, and removes their free will. You can make them do or say anything you want to. We were taught in school not to use it on anyone. It was unethical and very dangerous.

"I want more time." I whispered so lowly he almost didn't hear it.

"Why?" He asked, kissing down my neck carefully, scraping his fangs against the skin of my neck and sending shivers down my back. I wasn't sure if it was from pleasure or fear.

"Think of it as a vacation. I want to spend time with you. I haven't seen you in a year. I missed you." I murmured and kissed him softly on the lips. "That is my only condition. Give me one week and then I'm yours."

"One week. That's all you get and then I will awake you. Whether you like it or not." Finality laced his voice.

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**A/N: So they finally meet! What do you think? Drop a review and let me know! **


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: So here's chapter four.**

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**_~Chapter Four~_**

My first meeting with Dimitri went better than I expected. He seemed to believe that I wanted to follow him. After a few more minutes of letting myself enjoy what his kisses could do to me I pulled back and asked him to lead me to where I would live so I could freshen up. Surprisingly, he led me to his room and I didn't protest. Living with him would make my plan easier. He showed me around a little and then left me alone with the promise to come back as soon as possible. I explored around the room and once again I was impressed by how beautiful this place was.

The room was large and spacious. It reminded me a lot of how our room looked back when we were living in the Academy, only in darker shades. Where I had decorated our room with warm pastel colors, this one was black and a deep red that reminded me a lot of blood. The floors were made of laminate wood that had been waxed and polished to the highest possible shine. The ceiling and three of the walls had been painted black and the wall on the right hand side was shielded from view by a cherry red curtain that covered up the windows... if there were any. The canopied, king sized bed was placed against the middle of the wall opposite the door. It was made out dark oak wood that looked almost black. Red curtains fell around it, completely hiding from view anyone who slept in it. Red satin sheets were covering the mattress and black pillows were scattered all over it.

On either side of the bed were two small tables made out of the same wood as the bed, along with a black leather recliner that was placed by the heavy cherry red curtains. I imagined that there was a very beautiful sight on the other side so that's why they put it there. I walked towards a door that was opposite the window. I opened it, revealing an en-suite bathroom decorated in the same black and red shades. The first thing you saw as you walked in was the huge shower with glass walls. Beside it there was a marvelous sink made out of black marble with a mirror placed above it. The walls were covered with black and red tiles placed in uneven patterns.

I looked at the inviting shower for a long moment before I made my decision. Without a second thought I let my dress slip off of my body, followed by my underwear and started the hot water. I stepped under the spray just as fog started rising inside the room. My head fell back in relaxation as I let the hot droplets that were falling over my body soothe me. For the first time in days I finally had a little time to myself to think. What I found here had shaken me up a bit.

For months I had thought of Dimitri as dead and I had come in terms with the idea. We had his funeral and I buried my husband along with our relationship. But now that I saw he was alive –could you even call what he was 'alive'? The idea of joining him in this curse of a life was quite appealing. It would be so easy to put an end to the torture I was going through by simply letting him awaken me. And it was a sick, selfish part of me that wanted to give everything up just so I could be with him - even if it meant that I would be a monster for the rest of the eternity.

The feeling lasted only a few seconds because the moment I closed my eyes and tried to envision my life here two sweet, innocent, chocolate brown eyes popped inside my head. I had never understood how mothers could sacrifice so many things just to keep their kids happy until I became one. The moment I realized that I was pregnant everything else stopped existing. I did love Dimitri and still do with all my heart, but our son is above all. I could never give up Aleksei just so I could be with Dimitri. My little angel meant more to me than immortality. That thought was what brought me back to myself and made me focus on how I would end this madness with Dimitri. My love for my husband would never fade away but there was no chance for us to be together again.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I jumped out of my skin when two strong arms wrapped around my waist and Dimitri pulled me back against his chest, the familiar lines of his body pressing tight against mine. Oh how I missed him! "Did I scare you, Roza?" He murmured huskily in my ear and heat pooled between my legs. It amazed me how my body reacted to him the same way even now that he was a Strigoi. Dimitri could evoke feelings inside of me that no other man could.

"You know I hate it when you sneak up on me like that," I said as his lips made their way down my neck. His fangs scraped lightly against my neck and a moan was torn from my lips as they sunk into my skin. A euphoric feeling flowed through me as the endorphins from Dimitri's poison kicked in my system. One of his hands made its way down my stomach and slipped between my legs while the other pulled me closer to his body. Skilled fingers traced my sensitive flesh eliciting a deep moan from me as Dimitri lightly touched my clit. I whimpered helplessly as pleasure assaulted my senses. One, two, three digits slid inside me and another moan was torn from my throat.

I stumbled a little as he drank from me while his fingers kept leading me towards a very powerful orgasm. It was the most erotic and sinful thing I had ever done in my short life. Drinking blood from your partner while having sex was a great taboo in the Moroi world. Strigoi, on the other hand, enjoyed playing with their food before they killed their prey. Camille, one of my Moroi friends from school had tried to drink from one of her boy-toys once. Knowing I would never judge she told me about the experience. I was never a fan of that kind of kinky stuff so when she suggested that I should try it with Dimitri I turned it down without a second thought. _'Oh come on Rose! I promise you won't regret it!' _Were her exact words. Now, years later, I understood what Camille meant.

Blood was necessary for both Moroi and Strigoi to survive. The only difference between the two species was that Moroi didn't kill for it while Strigoi did. Moroi had humans -the feeders- that offered their blood to us and we took only as much as we needed. Strigoi on the other hand always killed their prey, for them it was all about the joy of killing and not for surviving. They didn't need to drain their victims, but most of the time, they did.

"Dimitri!" I murmured weakly as my climax washed over me, his lips never leaving my neck. He kept working his fingers in and out of me, helping me ride the waves of my orgasm. I rested my full weight against his body far too exhausted, by the hour I spent on the road combined with what we just did, to stand on my own. Dimitri drinking from me did me no good either. "Please take me to the bed." I whispered, already half asleep. I barely registered that he wrapped me in a fluffy white towel and carried me to the bed. It almost felt like we were still in the Academy. My eyes were shut long before my head hit the pillow.

_The next time I opened them I was standing in a very beautiful, familiar garden. The grass was wet under my bare feet and all my favorite flowers surrounded me. Rose bushes, lilies, tulips, anemones and so many more, all in different shapes, colors and sizes. I turned around to face the big, blue house behind me just as Sonya Karp -an old teacher of mine and a very good family friend- came through the front door. And then everything fell to place. I was in Sonya's house and we were inside one of her spirit dreams. Spirit users had many abilities; healing, creating illusions and walking in dreams were just a few of those._

"_Rose." She pulled me into a tight, motherly hug. "You are fine." She gave a deep sigh. "I was so worried. We all were." She smiled and kissed my cheek softly._

"_I'm alright, Sonya." I assured her. "A little tired but okay." I plopped myself down in the grass and laid back looking at the night sky. It was full of shiny, little stars. Sonya laid down beside me. I had so many memories from this house. Lissa and I used to spend hours in this very garden every summer, playing hide and seek or talking about our dreams. But that was a long time ago, when I was still a kid and Sonya was still happy._

_You see, a few years ago Sonya was in the same position as me. She was in love with a Dhampir and they were about to get married. She was so happy that she would finally be with Mikhail for the rest of her life. They had bought this big blue house together -that Sonya had fallen in love with- and planned to start a family as soon as possible. But Fate likes to mess around with people who are in love. Especially the ones that are close to a happy ending. Mikhail was killed by Strigoi when he tried to protect Sonya during an ambush. After that Sonya sunk into depression and stayed in that state for the next five years. She tried to move on for us and she succeeded to a certain extent. But she was half alive without Mikhail, just like I was without Dimitri._

_"Why did you come?" I asked her, curious about why she visited so soon. We agreed that they would give me a little time before they came for information._

_"Your mom worries about you. She sent me to see if you were okay." Of course she would! My mom had this annoying habit -that was nice at times- to call me every two hours just to make sure I'm alright. There was one time she sent half of my dad's guardians to find me because I didn't answer her phone calls. Can you imagine how embarrassed I was when they found me on top of Dimitri in our room_

_doing inappropriate things? My father still laughed about it, his poor guardians were scarred for life. After that incident she relaxed a little and stopped worrying but when Dimitri was turned Strigoi this habit came back in full force._

_"Tell her I'm fine," I whispered and closed my eyes. I liked how quiet the summer nights were here. The only thing you could hear were the crickets._

_"Are you?" Sonya's voice was concerned and a little doubtful. Really? So much for believing I could do this! The support from my family felt so nice, I thought sarcastically._

_"Yes I am! I'll admit that I am scared, but that's all. I know what I am doing. Please trust me on this one." Truth be told I was scared out of my mind by what I had to do. It was a hard task to try and make my heart shut up. I missed Dimitri and I wanted to be with him so much, but that was impossible now. My dreams about a blue house with a big garden like the one Sonya had were nothing but ashes now. A few minutes of comfortable silence passed between us._

_"You know, after this all this is done, you and the baby can stay with me if you want." I turned my head to look at her in surprise. "I mean I have this big house and I'm all alone in it. I could use some company." Sonya turned to me, her face full of hope. "You don't need to answer me now. Just think about it." My eyes filled with tears._

"_Maybe I will take you up on your offer." I smiled at her. "Now tell me, how is my little man?" I asked anxiously. It had only been a few hours and I missed him already._

"_He gives everyone hell!" Sonya's laugh was warm and rich. The only times that someone would hear her laugh would always have to do with my baby. Maybe Fate and God took many things from us but they made sure to show us that life didn't end because you lose someone. You may not always get what you want but you get what you need. Aleksei was that for us, he was the light in our darkness. "Abe hasn't left his side at all. Every time he tries to take two steps away from the nursery Aleksei brings the house down with his screams. But other than driving everyone insane he is fine."_

"_He is my son. Did you expect something different?" I teased her. It was nice seeing that Sonya was healing slowly. It gave me hope that she was finally able to smile again and that smile touched her eyes._

"_You have to go." She whispered and I looked at her in confusion. "What?" "Someone is waking you up."_

I sat up alert to the fact that someone else was in the room, and the peaceful feeling I had in my dream was long gone. I looked around and my eyes locked with Galina's ice blue ones. "What are you doing here?" I hissed as she resumed searching through the dresses inside the closet. Dimitri was so sure that I would eventually join him that he took it upon himself to stock the house with everything he thought I would need.

"Dimitri sent me to fetch you." She answered bitterly and laid out a beautiful dress for me. I could see it her eyes just how much it hurt her that Dimitri made her tend to every need I had. Galina was so in love with Dimitri that she couldn't see that he was using her all this time. She was his ticket to me. Galina was the only one that would help him. It was so sad that her love for him would kill her. "He is waiting for you in the gardens." Her voice was laced with jealousy and venom.

"Jealous aren't you?" Now I wasn't a mean person but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to taunt her.

Galina had made my life a living hell while I was with Dimitri back at Court. She was constantly spreading rumors and gossip about me and made me look like a fool in front of Dimitri many times. And let's not forget that she got away with it because I had no proof. She just couldn't get over the fact that he picked me instead of her. After particularly one bad rumor about me being a "blood whore" Tasha paid her a visit and Galina stopped even acknowledging me. To this day I have no idea what was said between the two of them and Tasha refused to tell me herself every time I asked her.

Blood whores were Dhampir women, and on rare occasions a few men, that gave up their careers as guardians and went to live in the human world. They gave blood and sex in exchange for money. The story never ended well for them. The term "blood whore" was also sometimes falsely used to describe Dhampir women that chose to raise their children and not guard Moroi. They got respectful jobs and took care of their family. Now those woman I respected them, one of them being Dimitri's mother. Olena was an amazing woman. She had raised four children on her own and she did a very good job.

"Of you? Let's not be delusional, Honey!" She laughed raising an eyebrow to me. "We both know that you have no future here." She slowly walked towards where I was standing beside the bed. "This time he will pick me. Dimitri will get tired of you eventually and he will kill you." She smiled mockingly her fangs showing. "And you know what will be more fun?" She was only a breath away from me and I could feel the anger boiling inside me. "When your son is old enough I will make it my personal mission to awaken him." With the speed of light my hands wrapped themselves around her long neck. I tightened them as I watched the bitch trying to breathe. _No one __would lay even a finger on Aleksei_.

"No, Roza." A cold voice murmured behind me and stronger hands covered mine, removing them from Galina's neck. I watched her as she fell on the floor gasping for breath. Red fingerprints were around her neck like a necklace. I admired my handy work, hate burning inside my eyes. "Go, Galina. I will not need you anymore." Dimitri whispered as he led me to the bed.

My emotions were throwing a party inside me, with hate being the most prominent one. I had never been the type of person to hurt someone without a good reason, but Galina went looking for trouble. It's one thing to threaten me and another to threaten that you will go after my family, and my little angel to be more specific. "Roza, look at me." My eyes shot up and connected with Dimitri's red ones. "Tell me why you tried to kill Galina." A warm feeling spread over my body and I felt the urge to answer what he asked me.

"She threatened me," I whispered, helpless under his ministrations. I couldn't fight compulsion in this state. I hadn't eaten anything in the last twenty-four hours or so, and I hadn't had the chance to drink blood from a feeder before I'd left Court. So that left me in a very dangerous position.

"My sweet Roza. You will be a great fighter." To my surprise he chuckled and took my lips in a deep kiss. I felt my body surrender itself to him as Dimitri pushed me to lie down the bed. A moan slipped between my lips as he rested his body on top of mine. The fuzzy feeling I got every time his lips touched mine spread inside me again. I completely forgot where I was or why I was here. The only thing that mattered was Dimitri. He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. "I want you to get dressed. I have something to show you." He kissed down my neck before his fangs sunk inside my skin. I could feel the endorphins kicking in again and I pushed against his chest.

"Dimitri, stop!" I murmured weakly. He removed his mouth and looked at me. "I need to get something to eat first and drink some blood and then I'm all yours." I said, before kissing his blood stained lips. Dimitri nodded and rolled off of me. It took me a few seconds to get up and move to the closet. I pulled out one of the dresses Dimitri had bought for me. Made of white silk, it was a strapless, floor length, A-line style dress with a sweetheart neckline. The bust was made of black lace and a black satin bow was resting just under my breast. I slipped my nightgown off and slid inside the beautiful dress. "I'm ready." I announced and turned to face him.

"No, you are not." Dimitri walked towards me and pulled something from inside his pocket. "Close your eyes," He ordered me and I did as I was told. "Open them." He said after a few moments. What I saw made my breath catch in my throat. There, between my breasts nestled a black diamond heart. One of the most beautiful pieces of jewelry I had ever laid eyes on. "Now you are ready." He slipped his hand in mine and pulled me from the room. I followed him, not knowing what to say.

"Where are we going?" I whispered still in a daze.

"You will see," was the only thing he said. As we walked through the hallways I made sure to make mental notes on everything I saw so I could tell it to anyone who would visit me in my dreams. After a couple of minutes Dimitri pushed open a door that led outside. "Close your eyes again." His voice was a little softer this time as I did what he told me to.

"Dimitri, where are you taking me?" I stumbled over something and I would have fallen if his arm wasn't wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Patience, Roza, we are almost there," He whispered in my ear. "Open them." He said as we came to a stop. I opened my eyes to see that we were in one of the mansion's gardens. "I remembered you have some kind of obsession with flowers and gardens and I thought that you would like to eat out here." He said, and for a moment he reminded me a little of the Dimitri I once loved.

"It's really beautiful." I said as I made my way over to where a blanket was laid out in the middle of the grass. My eyes roamed around, taking in the enchanting sight the garden gave. Roses of every color surrounded us and the moon added a romantic note in the atmosphere. I plopped myself down and dug into the food, all the while never paying attention to Dimitri who had joined me.

He laid down beside me and patiently waited for me to finish my meal. He even went as far as to get me a glass of blood. "I'm done." I announced happily as I drank the last drop of blood. "And I'm yours." I straddled his waist before I leaned over him, my fingers tangling into the ends of his hair as I angled his face up towards mine. I had a façade to maintain, and seducing him was one of the steps needed to keep it up. "What do you want me to do?" I whispered huskily in his ear. Dimitri flipped us over so he was on top of me.

"Tell me about our son." That caught me by surprise. His expression was soft - almost adoring.

"He is so tiny." I sighed happily at the memory of my son. "He looks just like you. Same sweet eyes, same bow shaped lips, same button nose." I said kissing his lips softly. "Of course he has my personality but that's something we will have to worry about in the future."

"He will make a great fighter when we awaken him." I felt panic rising inside me, Dimitri planed to lure Aleksei in to this sick thing he called a life.

"When are you planning to do this?" I asked him while I tried to keep my voice calm.

"When he is old enough to fight properly." Dimitri kissed down my neck sinking his fangs in my skin once more.

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**A/N: Come on guys drop a review to let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: The last chapter and one small epilogue to go.**

_Once upon a time I was falling in love…_

_Now I'm only falling apart…_

_There's nothing I can do…_

_A total eclipse of the heart…_

_Bonnie Tyler (Glee Cover)_

_~Chapter Five~_

The days passed slowly after my tryst with Dimitri in the gardens. I had explored around the house mentally keeping notes. I was sure he had forbidden Galina from coming within two feet of me because I hadn't seen her at all over the past four days.

From what Dimitri had said to me there were a total of fifty Strigoi in the house. It would be a difficult mission for us to kill them but not impossible. As for my plan on how to kill Dimitri - it was going pretty well. I had drunk some of the potions Sydney had given to me, and through my blood they would make him weak enough that I could take him down. Dimitri had made it a habit to drink from me at least once a day and of course every time we had sex. By now my neck and body were covered with bruises from his bites. I needed to come up with a way to heal them before my family could see me like this. I had lowered myself to a blood whore.

"Are you sleeping?" His voice sent shivers down my back and I could feel heat pooling between my legs. It was so cold and yet seductive at the same time. Over my last few nights here I came to the conclusion that forbidden things could bring you great pleasure. Dimitri, for example. Sex with him was always mind- blowing but now that he was a Strigoi... That little piece information could do crazy things to someone's libido.

"Yes." I murmured dryly. A few hours ago I overheard him talking with Galina; she was trying to sweet talk him into getting rid of me. The problem was that Galina couldn't wrap her head around the fact that even as a Strigoi I was the only woman Dimitri would lust after. His lips made their way down my neck as his arms tried to pull me closer to him. I moved farther away from him to the edges of the bed. Dimitri would have none of that, he rolled me on my back and got on top of me.

"What's the matter?" He murmured, lowering the straps of my nightgown and exposing my breasts to the warm summer air. I let out a moan as his lips closed around one already hard nipple.

"I-Uh," I gasped as pleasure ran through me. "I heard you and Galina talking." Dimitri's head snapped up to look at me, stopping what he was doing to my body. I refused to meet his gaze and show him how much Galina's words bothered me.

"Look at me, Roza!" His voice left no room for argument and my eyes met his. "My sweet and jealous Roza. You know you are the only one for me. The only one I want by side in order to take over the Strigoi world."

"Why?" My question caught him off guard. "Why do you want me here so much?" I held my breath, hoping for a different answer to the one I got the first time I asked him the same thing.

"Because you would make a good ally." My heart fell to my feet. He wanted me here, not because he loved me, but because I would be a good ally. And it all came down to this, me lying to myself for the past few days that maybe inside of this shell of a man was the man I still loved so much.

Two days, I thought. That's all I gave to my self. Two days and then Dimitri would be dead once and for all. But for now I had a little more time to spend with him and I would make the best of it. "Kiss me." I whispered against his lips.

Butterflies erupted inside me as his lips connected with mine in a lustful kiss. Dimitri's hands tore away my nightgown, leaving me bare, open to his hungry gaze. Shivers ran through me as I caught sight of the animalistic fire that burned in his eyes. He kissed down my neck towards the place I needed him most. He placed a light kiss on my clit before his sharp teeth sank into the soft flesh of my thigh. Two of his fingers slipped inside me, thrusting slowly in and out of me while he kept drinking from me. His bite combined with what his fingers did to me quickly brought my body to a sweet ecstasy. I could only grip the sheets tightly between my fingers as my back arched of off the bed. "Dimitri," I moaned weakly as I came down from my high.

Dimitri's lips collided with mine again and I could taste my blood on his tongue. A fact that made me want to throw up and let him drink from me again at the same time. I had no time react as he slipped inside me and I let out a soft gasp at the wonderful sensation of fullness. All rational thought left my mind as Dimitri started moving inside me. I threaded my fingers through his hair, reveling in the pleasurable feelings he evoked in me. Feelings I was bound to never taste again.

"Roza. My Roza! Mine!" He kept chanting in my ear as his thrusts picked up pace, becoming faster and harder. I would have another set of bruises to accompany the other ones after this round was over. His mouth lowered against my neck and the moment he took the first drink euphoria flooded my whole system. A couple more thrusts and I felt him tense above me.

Dimitri pulled out of me and laid beside me. I snuggled closer to his cold body, exhausted by our activities once more and let sleep take me over, only to find myself in another spirit dream.

"_Rose?" I turned to face a very surprised Adrian. "What the hell happened to you?" His voice was a mix of concern, terror, anger and disgust. "What are all those bruises?"_

_My hands shot up to cover the bite marks on my neck and as I looked down I realized I was dressed only in the nightdress Dimitri ripped off of me earlier. And it did nothing to hide the marks on my body. "Nothing." I murmured as I turned to face away from him. I didn't want my family to know what Dimitri had done to me. And while it was pleasurable it was also wrong, or rather, that's what they had taught us since kindergarten._

"_Rose?" Adrian's soft voice brought me out of my daydream. "What happened?" Warm arms wrapped around me and Adrian pulled me into his embrace. Adrian was the big brother I never had. He was always there for me when I needed someone to talk to or someone to simply have a screaming match with so I could calm down when I was angry. Being only children, both of us formed a sibling like relationship. It pissed me off when people would think that we were more. There was many times that others had accused me of cheating Dimitri with Adrian._

"_He just drank from me a few times." I turned to face Adrian and buried my head in his chest. "Please don't tell anyone." I begged him. Tears leaked out of my eyes at the thought of my parents finding out what happened here._

"_Shh, I won't say a word," He murmured kissing my head and rubbing my back. After a few peaceful moments I pulled back and wiped my tears away. "I won't judge you about what happened but how the hell are you going to explain those marks, Rose?"_

"_I'll come up with an idea, Adrian, but for now we have other things to worry about," I said trying to change the subject. "I believe you are here for a reason." Adrian took a few steps back and composed himself._

"_Robert sent me to inform you that we are ready. All we need is the information from you. The question is, are you ready?" I could tell that Adrian was a little anxious about the plan. He was the kind of guy that liked to stay away from trouble, so what we were about to do was a little risky for him._

"_What's up with everyone being so worried that I will fuck this up?" I asked in frustration. "Of course I'm ready. All I need is a date from you." I huffed sitting on my bed. That was when I realized that we were in my old childhood room. The walls were still painted purple and it still had my white canopied bed in it._

"_We are not afraid that you will screw it up, Rose. We are just concerned about how you are feeling about this, about how you're coping with the fact that you have to go through with it," He hissed angrily. "You are about to kill Belikov. Don't act like it's a simple walk in the park." Adrian was the only one beside Dimitri that would not take any of my bullshit, and I loved him for that._

"_Sorry." I whispered, feeling guilty for lashing out at him. "Trust me, I know it's not a walk in the park. It's been quite hard to keep myself in check. To not get my hopes up because I know that all this will come to an end soon." Fresh tears welled up in my eyes. I tried to put on a show in front of the others - convince them that I was fine and that I didn't miss Dimitri all that bad and that I could go through with this insane mission, but with Adrian I didn't have to hide my vulnerability. "As for the information you want, there are fifty Strigoi in the house. It would be better if you attack in daylight. Dimitri will be with me the whole time."_

"_Rose, are you sure you are okay with this?" Adrian asked me again and this time I gave him a sad smile._

"_Yes I'm fine." He took a few steps towards me and placed his hands on my neck where the bites were located._

"_No!" I almost screamed and pulled his hands away from me. Adrian looked confused at my actions. He was about to heal all the bruises and that would only ruin my plans. "You can't heal me. Not now."_

"_Why?" He asked._

"_If you heal me Dimitri will suspect that something is wrong." I wrapped my arms around my body protectively. The end was so close I could feel it._

"_Then what's your plan? What are you going to tell the others when they see you like this." He gestured to the bruises all over my body. Adrian was right; my family could never see me like this._

"_I will think of something, Adrian," I hissed lowly ,my anger getting the better of me again. "When are you going to be here?" I asked, quickly changing the subject before we got into a proper argument._

"_As soon as the sun is up. Your dad pulled some strings and got a hold of the designs of the house and now that we know how many Strigoi there are it will be easy for Alberta to plan an attack." I nodded along, the plan sounded good and I was sure that Alberta knew what to do._

"_Good. I have to leave now." I said as I felt consciousness flooding my system. "Be careful Rose!" Was the last thing I heard before I opened my eyes._

"Roza." A voice I knew so well murmured in my ear. Cold hands were caressing my body like only a lover's would. Dimitri's lips kissed a path down to my neck as I turned to face him. "Good, you are awake." He hummed and moved to lie on top of me.

"Good morning," I moaned as cold skin touched warm. I ran my fingers through his hair and brought his lips down to mine. "Stay with me today." I murmured, kissing him softly, pretending we were still in the Academy. Pretending this was one of those times we had to sneak around so we could have a little time alone together. "Don't leave this room. Please stay with me."

"Why?" He asked amusedly.

"No reason. Just spend the whole day with me." I said tugging on his ear lobe with my teeth as I wrapped my legs around his waist. "I have some very good

ideas on how to entertain you." I rocked my hips against his to emphasize my point and I could already feel his excitement.

"Okay." He murmured and took possession of my lips in another passionate kiss.

A few hours later I sent Dimitri off in search of food and that left an opening for me to get ready. I rolled over to my side of the bed and opened the nightstand drawer. My fingers traced the cool metal of my hairpins as I grabbed them in my hands.

Just a few more hours.

That's all I had. A few more hours and then all this would end. Dimitri would be no more. For a moment I wished to join him because life without Dimitri was no life at all. But then I remembered that someone was waiting for me back home and I didn't give that wish a second thought. I placed the pins under my pillow and laid back to wait for Dimitri to return. Just as I was about to close my eyes the door opened and Dimitri stepped in whilst carrying a tray full of food for me. I sat up against the headboard just as he placed the tray in front of me.

"Eat." He ordered me and I dug into the delicacies eagerly. He had made my breakfast just how I liked it, and with every bite I swallowed the minutes tickled by. Dimitri laid beside me, one of his western novels in his hand. It was just like nothing happened. Like he wasn't a Strigoi and we were just having breakfast in bed.

"Dimitri." His head snapped up and my eyes met his. "Where is Galina?" I asked curiously. I hadn't seen her at all after our little fight a few days ago.

"She is not a problem anymore." He said calmly and went back to his book. The tone of his left no doubt about how he made sure Galina wouldn't be a problem anymore. The urge to throw up came back again and I pushed the rest of my breakfast away.

"I'm done." I said, as I buried my body between the soft sheets. And the clock still was tickling. Dimitri opened his arms to me and I crawled by his side, snuggling closer to him. I closed my eyes and willed myself to go to sleep so I could see where Adrian and the others were. Dimitri seemed unaware of what was going through my head and kept reading his novel.

_This time I was standing by the swings at Adrian's house. "It's about damn time," someone grumbled from behind me and I turned to face an annoyed Adrian. "I've been sleeping for hours. Where the hell were you?"_

"_You don't really want to know." I giggled at his disgusted face before I settled myself on one of the swings and Adrian joined me on the other. "So where are you?" I got straight to the point._

"_Only two hours away. We have twenty guardians with us and five Moroi fighters. I think we got this." He said confidently._

"_May I ask what are you doing here?" I asked strictly. "You were supposed to stay behind."_

_Adrian huffed at my words._

"_Like I would miss all the fun. Besides I'm the one that will come and get you."_

"_Why?" I asked in confusion._

"_So I can heal the marks on your neck before anyone sees them." He pointed to the bites and I let out a sigh of relief. I had forgotten about that._

"_Adrian?" he turned to look at me. "Will you be careful?" He threw his head back and laughed._

"_Of course, Little Dhampir. Do you have any idea what Sydney would do to me if I got myself killed?" She would come up with some pretty creative ways to bring him back to life and then kill him herself for his stupidity._

"_You have a point there." I muttered, smiling at the thought of Sydney trying to kill Adrian. It wouldn't be the first time. "I'm waking up again, I will see you in a few hours." I kissed his cheek and just like that my dream ended._

I woke up just as Dimitri's fangs sunk in to my skin and a moan slipped between my lips at the pleasurable pain. "What are you doing?" I asked him rolling my head to the side. Dimitri pulled back and cleaned the wound with his tongue.

"I'm having lunch." He murmured, trailing kissed down my stomach. I wrapped my legs around his waist and flipped us over so I would be on top. "You are feisty one today, Miss Hathaway, aren't you?" He chuckled as his hands wrapped around my waist effectively lowering the upper half of my body to rest on top of his.

"Tell me again why do you want me to stay?" I asked him my hands inching closer to pins under the pillows. My heart started beating faster waiting for his answer even if it knew what it was going to be.

"Because I want you, Roza." He murmured, kissing me hungrily.

"Wrong answer." I mumbled against his lips as I pulled the pins out from under the pillow and slammed them through his heart. Dimitri screamed and thrashed underneath me as he tried to escape. His nails were leaving marks on my skin almost drawing blood, but I kept pushing down until his struggles weakened and slowed. And as I watched him dying I felt a part of me dying alongside him. My heart broke in two and tears were running freely from my eyes. When I was sure he was dead I leaned over him and kissed him one last time softly on the lips.

My time was up.

"I will always love you." I whispered to his dead form as I slipped away from him. I wrapped my robe around me intending to walk over to the door to wait for Adrian and the others to arrive, but my legs crumpled and I sank to the floor and cried the pain away.

I had no idea how much time had passed since I staked Dimitri when I felt Adrian touch the marks on my neck, healing them one by one. I could only feel the warm heat from spirit flooding through my system and taking a little from my pain away. When he was done Adrian picked me up and led us towards the cars.

_Finally it was over._

**A/N: So tell me what you think!**


	7. Epilogue

**A/N: This is the end! I want to thank everyone that reviewed or favorite and alert this story. **

_Epilogue: Four Years Later._

"Mommy." I watched as my son ran around happily, chasing after a butterfly. "Mommy, look." He squealed as I picked him up.

"Yes baby! It's a butterfly!" I answered him, equally excited. With every passing day Aleksei looked a bit more like his father. The ride back home from where Dimitri lived was a blur. From what Adrian told to me later they killed all the Strigoi but not without cost. We had lost a few of our people too, and Mason was among them. I mourned double the next few days, both for Dimitri and for the people that gave their lives to finish what I started.

"If you keep looking back in the past you will never see the future." I turned to look at Sonya and gave her a sad smile. She knew I felt guilty about what happened and tried every day to make me feel better. I took her up on her offer and moved in with her. The house was away from everyone and very quiet; it was perfect for Aleksei to grow up here.

And grow up he did. My little boy was already four and it killed me slowly that Dimitri wasn't here with me to see him taking his first steps or saying his first word. And he wouldn't be here for the first time our son would like a girl or when he would pass his guarding exams with flying colors.

"I'm not stuck in the past. But sometimes it's nice to just look back to your life and remember people you loved." I said as I set Aleksei down on his feet so he could continue playing with his butterfly. Sonya smiled sadly at me knowing exactly were this conversation was heading.

"You know, Rosemarie," She said as she sat down on one of the chairs we had out on the lawn. "Fate is never fair to people. She likes to mess around with destiny and to ruin happy endings. But the last four years I have constantly thanked Fate because although she took the man I loved away from me, she gave me you and Aleksei to keep me company in return." I smiled at her comment. Truth be told, living with Sonya helped me a lot too.

"I'm happy to be here too." I said and squeezed her in a tight hug. In the end I didn't get my happy ending; the one with the Prince on a white horse, the beautiful dresses and the carriage made from a pumpkin, but I did get a loving family, faithful friends that would follow me to ends of the world and a little angel that I loved more than my own life.

_~The End~_


End file.
